Liam: Hey, do you-- do you have any news about the Taboo press conference?

Jarrett: (Sighs) Uh, they may be starting a women's line.

Bill: Gee, I'm shocked.

Jarrett: They're donating a cut of the profits to charity. But
unofficially... I don't think Taboo is supposed to exist, and I don't think
we're supposed to know.

Thomas: Why do you think I should back off with my dad?

Dayzee: I see a man who's coming into his own.

Thomas: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

Dayzee: And coming into your own means admitting that there will be obstacles
in your path. You love your father.

Thomas: (Sighs) Of course, I do.

Dayzee: Okay, well you undermined him deliberately.

Thomas: I had to.

Dayzee: And in the process, you stole his voice.

Thomas: Yes, to keep him from stealing mine.

Dayzee: Do not do this, Thomas. You don't want to lose him. He's your father.

Bill: We thank you for your support of the Forrester Taboo line. It is with
regret that we're putting it to an end. R.F."

Liam: Ridge.

Bill: They read this at the press conference?

Jarrett: No, no, it was business as usual for Thomas and Brooke.

Bill: They were hangin' all over each other?

Jarrett: No, not at all, but Thomas was still very flirtatious towards his
father's wife.

Bill: I never thought Ridge had it in him to sign off on promotion that edgy.
Something finally pushed his buttons, and I wonder what.

Brooke: I withheld something from you, Ridge, and I was wrong, and now we are
having this conversation that seems a little too dangerous instead of a simple
"What's going on with him" talk that we would have had if I came to you right
away and told you about Thomas's kiss.

Ridge: Yeah, well, now I'm frankly very tired of hearing it.

Brooke: Okay, well, now I have to tell you something else, because if I wait,
it's only going to get worse. You cannot pull rank on Thomas and kill the line.

Ridge: So you admit you were wrong in one breath, and the next you side with
him?

Brooke: No, no, I side with you always. You know that. I just don't want
things to go wrong between you and Thomas. I'm worried about the two of you, and
if you clamp down on him now, that's exactly what's going to happen.

Thomas: (Scoffs) How am I supposed to make things right with my dad? 'Cause
right now, I'm pretty sure he's ready to fire me.

Dayzee: Okay, what if he does? What does that change? You're still his son.
That's the relationship you've gotta honor.

Thomas: (Sighs) But what is that supposed to mean? "Sure, Dad, whatever you
say."

Dayzee: Is that the only way you two know how to relate to each other?

Thomas: All right, Dayzee, all I know is I'm tired of apologizing. (Sighs)
Yes, I did something wrong, but nobody got hurt, and nobody suffered any lasting
damage here.

Dayzee: That is your assessment. And, honestly, you don't get to decide when
you're done apologizing.

Thomas: (Sighs)

Dayzee: It's the people you hurt who get to decide when they're tired of
hearing it.

Thomas: (Chuckles) Remind me never to burn any bridges with you.

Dayzee: (Laughs) Why?

Thomas: Because since my sister became a power-mad freak, you're the only one
who tells it to me straight.

Bill: How did you get your sticky little English fingers on that?

Jarrett: No sticky fingers. I promise.

Bill: How long have you worked for me?

Jarrett: Quite some time.

Bill: That's right, and we both know that reporters have they're somewhat
underhanded ways of getting information from time to time.

Jarrett: Are you suggesting I stole it?

Bill: Did you? Or do you have an inside source?

Jarrett: I-I-I swear on a stack of bibles--

Bill: Have you ever seen me with even one bible? Come on. How did you get
your hands on that information?

Jarrett: It was on the floor. Somebody dropped it.

Liam: Hey, Guys. This--this wasn't meant to be read out loud to the press.
This is supposed to be distributed in-house.

Bill: Gold star for you. But when was it? It's dated today.

Liam: Well, I'm thinkin' no I mean, why would you hold a press conference for
Taboo if you were gonna kill t?

Jarrett: Maybe Ridge changed his mind?

Bill: Twice in one day? I don't think Ridge is capable of that much mental
exercise. Changing his clothes twice, maybe.

Liam: What if--what...

Bill: Say it.

Liam: I'm--I'm just thinkin', what if Thomas knew what Ridge was up to, and
he headed him off at the pass?

Bill: Outmaneuvered him?

Liam: Yeah.

Bill: Hmm. He announced he was expanding the line, giving a percentage to
charity, daring anyone who was at the press conference to challenge him. Was
Ridge there?

Jarrett: Yeah.

Bill: How did he look?

Jarrett: Especially stone-faced.

Bill: (Chuckles) Well, I am appalled. Do you think his son would actually
pull such a dastardly act on his own father? Forget the swimsuit we've got your
cover story.

Liam: (Sighs)

Ridge: So you think that holding a press conference, daring me to humiliate
myself after the shock of what you did, that was reasonable way to begin this
discussion with me?

Brooke: No, I don't. But my choice was between handing Thomas a public
humiliation that he may never recover from, or playing for time to have this
discussion with you.

(Knock on door)

Ridge: Come back later.

Thomas: I would, except for the risk of later being too late.

Liam: I-if we run "Taboo is dead," and it's not, we have an army of Forrester
attorneys coming after us.

Bill: No, wait a minute. We are forgetting something. Brooke was there with
Thomas, right?

Jarrett: That's right.

Bill: And they were acting flirtatious?

Liam: Maybe she didn't know about the memo.

Jarrett: Maybe neither of them did.

Bill: Impossible. Ridge doesn't relieve himself without Brooke knowing about
it. If there was a press conference, it was to play "Taps" for Taboo and Brooke
and Thomas knew it.

Liam: Okay, so you're saying that they deliberately--

Bill: Called his bluff and won. Ridge stood there stone-faced and let them do
it.

Liam: Yeah, but a line between Mrs. Forrester and Thomas? (Stammers) No.

Bill: All right, you do the math. Sales for Taboo-- through the roof why else
would Ridge end it? Here's what we're doing, and you know how to do it-- start
writing. Tease it just short of a lawsuit for libel. Uh, "Father knows best--
bye-bye, Taboo."

Jarrett: Uh, "Dad, can I borrow the car, and Mom, too?"

Bill: That's terrible "To love, honor, and obey."

Jarrett: "That was no lady. That was my stepmother."

Bill: Even worse. Just go with--

Liam: (Stammers) Hold on a second, guys. Jarrett, can I have a second alone?

Jarrett: I'll get writing.

Liam: Thanks.

Bill: What's the problem?

Liam: We can't do this. We don't know the whole story. We don't even know if
there is a story.

Bill: (Sighs) Do you know how much I hate the word can't?

Thomas: I think we're both probably in a position we don't want to be in.

Ridge: Defied by my wife and son? That's right. I don't.

Thomas: I only did what you did. I took a shortcut to winning. Dad, we were
both wrong, and it started with you.

Ridge: I made a decision that was mine to make as C.E.O. of this company.

Thomas: Oh, come on. We both know that's bull. You weren't acting as C.E.O.
You were using your authority to punish me as your son, not as your designer,
because you could, and I stopped you for today because I could. Come on. How far
do you want to take this slapping me down before I slap back?

Ridge: Thomas, it's not acceptable to me to know that beneath all the risqué
promotional shots you've made, you had an agenda involving my wife.

Thomas: I thought about Brooke. Is that so strange? She's--no one else had
much faith in me.

Ridge: That's not true.

Thomas: You believed in Steffy's big dreams, in Hope's. You didn't even know
what mine were. If I had an idea, it came as a shock to you. So I made a
decision; it was my time, my turn. I wanted something for me. And, yes, Brooke--
she was the only one who truly believed in me. Look, I don't know why I kissed
her. But the kiss rally was no big deal. And for you to threaten to kill Taboo?
(Groans) Maybe--maybe I was still struggling to sort out what she was supposed
to be to me, sort out my feelings, but believe it or not, it helped. (Sighs) All
I felt was foolish.

Ridge: Well, thank you. It couldn't have been easy to walk back in this room.
But, Thomas, I must say, all is not forgiven. If I let the line continue, I
reward you for the stunt you pulled. And if I kill it now as I intended, then
the whole world would still see how my son and my wife teamed up to thwart me,
and they'd have to draw their own conclusions as to why.

(Intercom buzzes)

Ridge: (Groans) I said no calls. All right. All right, give me a moment.
There's something urgent at International.

Thomas: It's all right. I really have nothing more to say.

Ridge: Neither do I for now.

Brooke: Thomas, no. Don't walk away.

Thomas: It's all right. He's only left me one direction.

Bill: This is the perfect storm for a tabloid scandal, this is the stuff we
live for.

Liam: Is it?

Bill: What else?

Liam: Kind of thought your wife was the stuff you live for.

Bill: All right, that's a low blow.

Liam: Hey, Brooke is her sister.

Bill: That doesn't mean she gets a free pass.

Liam: (Scoffs)

Bill: Hey, the tabloid press is a very lucrative part of our business. You
need to see this for what t is, Son. Brooke and Thomas were very happy to
exploit the tabloids, to use the tabloids to promote Taboo. Ridge was complicit
up until now. Well, it's a double-edge sword. Welcome to the other side of the
blade.

Liam: So you really think that Ridge Forrester's wife is sleeping with his
son?

Bill: She slept with his father. Why is his son such a stretch?

Liam: But that's--that's-- that's what I'm saying, Dad. You don't know, and
you're asking Jarrett to write this whole piece insinuating that this is the
case without ever coming out and saying it.

Bill: Well, we all skate on the same thin ice for our readers.

Liam: Just don't-- just don't do this, Dad, please.

Bill: Why?

Liam: Just this once, don't.

Bill: Hey, Brooke is no friend of yours. Hope couldn't dump you fast enough
to suit Brooke once she found out about Amber.

Liam: Yeah, but Brooke was right. She's still Hope's mother. Every racy thing
we print about her hurts the girl I love, and I don't want to do that anymore.

Bill: (Sighs) All right. All right, we'll hold the story for a day, a few
days, see what develops. I guess that's a good strategy.

Brooke: How long will you be gone?

Ridge: Oh, who knows? The French and their strikes.

Brooke: Well, I'll go home and pack some things for you.

Ridge: No, they'll have some clothes for me in Paris. The apartment is fully
stocked. I'll be fine.

Brooke: So you're gonna just walk out of here without any kind of closure?

Ridge: Closure? I tried. Thomas didn't like it.

Brooke: We really need to reach a resolution before you leave.

Ridge: Logan, the dock workers in Marseilles refuse to load and unload
containers that we're shipping all over the world. Now people need to be wined
and dined and made to feel important Marcus doesn't really have much of a
feeling for that.

Brooke: Okay, well, I'll help you.

Ridge: No, no. You stay here. We shouldn't both be gone at the same time.

Brooke: You know you... you don't have to have any concerns about Thomas and
me working together.

Ridge: I keep trying to believe that.

Brooke: You don't really think that I would be unfaithful with your son.

Ridge: You stood in front of a room full of reporters and helped him defy me,
never mind how good you think your reasons were. Let's just, uh, make sure we
understand that.

Brooke: There's no man in this world that I find more attractive than you.
Let's make that very clear.

Ridge: What about respect?

Brooke: (Sighs) I hurt you, and I know you feel betrayed by me. But that pain
is nothing compared to what you would feel if you lose the love and respect of
your son. I just couldn't let that happen, Ridge.

Ridge: I have to go.

Brooke: Okay. Well, maybe it's good that you're gonna be spending some time
alone. It'll give you time to think.

Ridge: Yeah, maybe so.

Brooke: You'll call?

Ridge: Oh, you know how it is-- the time difference and all.

Brooke: It really doesn't matter what time it is.

Ridge: Take care.

Brooke: Ridge... this isn't the end of anything.

Ridge: Tell R.J. and Hope, uh, good-bye for me, okay?

Brooke: I love you. I love you enough to stand up to you when I know it's the
right thing. I just didn't want to see you damage your relationship with your
son. I just couldn't let that happen. So go to Paris and take care of whatever
it is you need to take care of there, and just take as much time as you need,
and I'll be here when you get back. And you will forgive me. Heck, you might
even thank me. Taboo is no threat to you. And Thomas is no threat to you and me.
The only threat would be to lose your son. And I love you too much to see that
happen. I hope you'll understand.

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